


Moms, I'm a Boy

by TheSkyrimLife



Category: Original Work
Genre: Being different, F/F, FTM, Gen, Original Character(s), Transgender Boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-06 20:24:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15202766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSkyrimLife/pseuds/TheSkyrimLife
Summary: A young child has something to tell his Mommy and Mama.It's very important.





	1. Births and Birthdays

Katherine was very excited when she learned she was having a girl. So was her wife, Barb.

They knew having a child would be difficult, but they also knew that they could afford it. Barb was a lawyer, and Kat was a nurse.  They lived in an apartment in Washington Heights. It was a two floor home, and it had plenty of space for a child. They had a pit bull named Kobe and he had plenty of space. He was a big dog, too. A hundred pounds.

They were excited to dress her up in pretty dresses, braid her hair, play dolls with her.

They thought they were getting a girl.

They got a boy.

 

"She's so pretty," said Barb, beside Kat's beside, holding their daughter. She had golden hair, just like Barb's.

"She really is." Said Kat, smiling.

But Anna wasn't a girl.

She started to express it on her third birthday.

 

They had set up a princess themed party. Very pink, very _feminine_. A big cake sat in the middle, covered in Disney princesses. Anna was excited. She kept saying, "Today Andy turns _three_!"

They didn't think too much of the name she was calling herself. Kids loved to play pretend, after all.

It was all good. Until they tried to put her in a dress.

"NO! Andy doesn't wear dresses! Andy is NOT a princess!" She was kicking and screaming, her tiny arms thrusting in the air.

Kat held the dress in her hands, trying very hard to put it on. Anna wouldn't budge.

"NO NO NO!"

They finally admitted defeat. "Fine, what do you want to wear?"

Anna stood up, and very proudly walked over to her closet. She pulled out her dinosaur costume from Halloween. It was a green T-Rex. She wore the thing all the time. It was the most masculine thing she had.

"Andy is a dinosaur..." She kept muttering to herself as she slipped on the costume. "Andy is a dinosaur..."

When she was done, she walked into the living room, grabbed the TV remote, and watched Curious George until the guests arrived.

 

The kids ran around playing games like tag, army, and wrestled until it was time for cake. Kat's mother, Nana, shouted out into the apartment with a megaphone. "It's time for the birthday girl to have cake!"

Anna walked over in her dinosaur costume, best friend Harry at her side.

Nobody noticed that her and Harry said "Happy birthday dear Andy," when they sang to her.

After the party was over, and the guests went home, Anna opened her presents. From Mama and Mommy, a monster truck shirt and an iPod shuffle for her to listen to music. From Nana, a set of American Girl Doll twins, which she named Freddy and Nora. Harry gave her a tiny football, big enough for her hands. Barb's sister Jackie and her kids George, Manny, and Ron gave her a pink Hello Kitty shirt. She didn't pay much mind to it, just set it with the other presents, not blinking an eye. From Grampa and Gramma, a set of Hot-Wheels cars.

The big present was a bike. It had no pedals, to teach her how to ride. It was blue and purple, with a silver bell on it. Anna was overjoyed. She rode that thing for the rest of the day.


	2. Andy Goes to Kindergarten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Andy's first day of Kindergarten. He likes his teacher, and Harry's in his class, but the other kids aren't that nice.

Anna was excited for kindergarten.

She picked out her favorite shirt, the one with _Wonder Woman_ on it. She ate the breakfast of champions, a waffle with extra whip cream, and said hello to Millie. She put all of her best things in her baby blue backpack. A notebook filled with drawings. A new pencil box that was bright red, her favorite color. Ethan, her stuffed dinosaur. A Magic Tree House Fact Tracker. (She could read well for her age.) Her _Star Wars_ lunchbox. And best of all, her iPod shuffle, so she could listen to music on the bus. It was pink, but she didn't mind. She had covered it with red duct tape, making her own kid of case. Barely any pink was showing.

Her moms escorted her down to the bus stop, the same as Harry's. When they saw each other, they raced over and embraced in a gut-crushing hug while his mom talked with Anna's moms.

"Look, Harry! I drew this cool picture of you!" Anna held out a piece of paper. It had a crude figure with an orange sweatshirt, jeans, and green glasses.

"It looks just like me!" Said Harry, grinning. And it did, at least that day. He was wearing his trademark jeans and orange sweatshirt, along with his glasses, which he wore all the time, on account he needed them to see.

"It does, doesn't it? It took me fifteen minutes to draw. My mama timed me!" She said, puffing out her chest.

When the bus came, they walked on, hand in hand, best friends.

 

"All right, class, time to go around and say our name and three things about ourselves. Our family, our favorite thing to do, and our favorite color. Okay? Let's start with Graham." Miss Carter, the teacher, pointed to a tiny, skinny little blond haired kid who looked terrified.

He hugged his knees close to his chest and started to talk, but with a noticeable stutter. He was very nervous.

"M-my name is Graham, a-a-and I l-live with my m-mom and d-d-ad. I l-like t-to draw and m-my fav-vorite color i-is b-blue."

The other kids went around, all having a distinct personality. Anna had never been in a room with so many people, and she was taking mental notes the whole time. Jack had a mom, a dad, and a stepdad. Carol lived with her Grandma. Henry had a dog named Ryland. Barry had a little sister named Riley, and she "Is a pain!". Frannie had a cat named Princess.

Tristan liked to skateboard with his mom. Katie enjoyed playing the guitar with her dad. Shinzo was good making sushi with his _nainai_. George did karate.

Harry's favorite color was orange, but she knew that.

When it was Anna's turn, she sat up straight and cleared her throat.

"My name is Anna, and I live with my two moms and baby sister, Millie. We also have a dog named Kobe. He's really big. I like to draw and read, but I love playing football and riding my bike. My favorite color is red."

"Not only do you have two moms, but you also like to play football? That's dumb. Football is a boy sport." Frannie smirked.

Anna had been practicing her burns, and she decided to let one rip. "Well, your face looks like a dead fish." Frannie gasped.

The assistant teacher, Miss Setter, took the two kids aside. "Now, Frannie, all families are different, and Anna can play whatever sport she likes. Anna, it's not nice to say things like that to Frannie."

 

The rest of the day went fine, good, even, but when Anna got home, she went right to her room to draw and read and didn't come down until dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My kindergarten experience was a bit nicer, but I wanted Andy to represent what a lot of dysphoric kids can go through.


	3. The First Jerk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a failed attempt at family night, Andy tells Kobe what he's going through.

Anna was angry.

She had her special crayons out to draw with, and she was listening to Disney on her iPod, but she was still angry.

_It's none of_ _Frannie's_ _business what I like to do,_  she thought,  _and she doesn't get to make fun of the moms!_

"Anna! It's family night! We're watching  _Mulan_!" Kat called from downstairs.

"One second, moms!" She shoved her drawings in her binder and dashed downstairs in her dinosaur pajamas. Her slippers were pink bunnies, but she didn't mind. She didn't care about the color pink, she just didn't like too much of it.

Kat and Barb had a bowl of macaroni and a tiny bit of root beer, since it was a special occasion. Their sweet little girl had lived through her first day of kindergarten, and they were proud. Very proud.

When she got down, she saw the root beer and immediately plopped down and started to guzzle it. As Kat got up to put the disc in the DVD player, Anna put down her cup and cried "Wait! I wanna put it in!". Kat gave her the disc. After all, it was her day.

She snuggled up next to Kobe, resting her head on his chest. At least he could wear cool boy things. But he was a dog. Not a person. He didn't know how special it was.

   


Halfway through the film, Kat paused it.

Anna responded to this by giving her the look of death. "Sweetie, how was your day?"

Anna grunted. "Fine." Barb sighed.

"Buddy, you need to tell us more than 'Fine'. That's not enough of a description."

"I said it was fine, alright! Stop asking so many questions!" Kat and Barb looked at each other, surprised at the outburst. Millie looked at Anna in shock, fist in her mouth.

"Anna, do not speak to us that way."

Anna stood up, fists clenched. "I can say whatever I want! Just shut  _up_!"

Kat stood up, pointing to the stairs. "Go to your room, Anna."

Anna sat on the floor, like a rock. "No."

Kat raised her finger and jutted it in the direction of the stairs again. "I will ask one more time. Go. To. Your. Room."

"No!" Anna cried, tears pouring down her cheeks. "No nO NO NO NO!"

Barb walked over to Kat, passing Millie to her. "I'll take care of this." Barb picked up Anna, pinning her arms behind her back. But Anna kicked. Barb took it, carrying Anna up the stairs to her room. Kobe followed, concerned about what was happening.

Barb set Anna on her bed and whistled for the dog. Kobe jumped on the bed, nudging Anna with his nose gently. Barb closed the door, leaving them alone, but she did sit outside the door, trying to listen in on the conversation.

"Here, Kobe. I'll tell you what happened."

Barb braced herself, ready to take her out of school if needed.

"So, there's this stupid girl named Frannie. She's a jerk. A really big jerk.

"The teacher, Miss Carter, had us all go around and a few things about ourselves. She called it 'Icebreakers', whatever that is. But anyway, when it was my turn, I said I liked to play football and lived with you guys.

"But that Frannie girl said some mean stuff about how girls can't like football and that having two moms was weird."

Barb clenched her fists in anger at what she was hearing. Having lesbian parents wasn't an issue, and she could like whatever she wanted to like. But the biggest surprise was yet to come.

"Maybe I'm a boy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just feel bad for Andy. I really do.


	4. Time Flies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened in the five years that followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just decided to squeeze all of this into one chapter, it's way easier.

In the years that followed, Anna's feelings got stronger.

In kindergarten, she was alright with wearing girly clothes, but didn't like it that much, and preferred more masculine outfits.

In second grade, she started to shop in the girl's area half the time, and that was only when she had to, which was a lot, as there were many parties at Barb's law firm that required fancy clothing. Plus, she didn't want to put up a fight. The fanciest thing she would wear was a skirt, and that stopped halfway through the year. After that she wore a decent shirt and tights.

In third, she wouldn't step a foot in the girl's section. When they went school shopping for the year, she started to cry right in the middle of the store. Her parents still didn't understand. What was happening to their little girl?

In fourth, she asked to join the Boy Scouts for her birthday. Her parents didn't know what to say. How could they tell him that only boys were allowed in Boy Scouts?

And now he was going into fifth. The year before middle school. Before  _puberty_. And sometimes when it started. He was scared. He knew he was a boy. It was obvious. The way he acted. The way he played sports. The way he was. Just  _him_. The only issue is, he was only Andy in his mind. He couldn't be a real boy. He felt like Pinocchio. He could never be a real boy. He just had to get used to it. Being a _girl_.

  

"Anna! Where did you put Cynthia?" Andy flinched at the name. He hated hearing that word. It made him sound like Anna from  _Frozen_ , even though her name was pronounced different. And he liked  _Frozen_ , he loved Disney all together. But his favorite character was Krisoff.

"Your dumb doll is probably in your room!" Andy yelled, agitated. He was working on some animations on his iPad. And they were very important, but Millie knew how to push his buttons.

The door banged open, his self-made map of Brooklyn coming loose and hanging off one corner. His younger sister entered, long brown hair crazy every which way. He was glad he had short hair, so it didn't end up like that. "Help me find her! And don't call her 'dumb'!"

He sighed and glared at her. "Can't you see I'm busy? Leave me alone!" He angrily gestured to the door.

Millie huffed and stomped out, skirt flapping. It was at that moment Andy decided he was hungry. Well, you can't decide you are hungry, but you can _discover_ you are hungry. And that's what Andy had discovered.

So he told the moms he was walking down to the gas station to get a snack. They had just gotten back from Texas visiting their Uncle Ted and his fam and so _their_   fam had nothing to eat.

He shoved on his coat and pushed in his headphones,putting on  _Dear Evan Hansen_  , stepping outside. The snow made a satisfying crunch as he walked.

Sometimes he did feel like he was waving through a window. A bullet-proof window. He had tried to break it but it wouldn't break. He would scream on the other side, but nobody could listen, nobody could hear him, pained, helpless.

 

The bell tinkled as he walked in the door. " _Hallo_ , Andrew!" Well, he had told nobody _except_ Stephan, the son of the people who owned the general store. They had moved here when Stephan was only eight, so German was his first language. Stephan himself was gay, so he knew how it felt to be closeted. However, he had come out last year. His parents didn't blink an eye. It was, in all honesty, exactly like this:

 

Stephan: Mama, Papa? Can we talk?

Dirk and Katrin (Stephan's Parents):  _Natürlich, natürlich_! You may tell us anything, _kleiner_!

Stephan: Well...

Dirk: _Ja_ , _ja_? Tell us, boy, we're  _ungeduldig_ to hear what you must say!

Stephan:  _Fröhlich_! I'm gay!

**COMPLETE UTTER SILENCE**

Katrin: *embracing* Oh, my  _Junge_ , you could have told us! Dirk, did you hear, he is gay! I thought he was taking drugs or watching _pornographie_!

Dirk: I'm glad that you told us, son.

 

The only problem is that Andy wasn't sure that was the way it would turn out.


	5. In Which Andrew Meets A Guy Named Connor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephan takes Andy to his queer support group, called the misfits. They have a cool dude named Connor. No, this is not a DBH reference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: SWEARING IN THIS CHAPTER\  
> If ya'll don't like that, leave.

As Andy walked around, picking up a bag of _Doritos_ , a hot dog, and a diet root beer to be 'Semi-Healthy'. The only things he could eat at home with his nurse mother were carrots, chicken, and peeled honey-crisp apples. Those were the only healthy things he would eat. Otherwise it was _Doritos_ , soda, hamburgers, steak, and pulled pork. Oh, plus ice cream and candy. He had an extreme sweet tooth.

Walking through the store, attempting to get to the register, trying ignoring the glance of the poor glazed doughnuts that just HAD to be there, pleading to be consumed by his black hole of a mouth. But he was gluten-free.

But they looked so good...

After prying himself from the beautiful glazed unicorn turds, he set his things down on the counter in front of Stephan. "I see you managed to look away from the _krapfen_ , _ja_?" Stephan's accent had died down to barely noticeable, but he still loved to talk in his native language. Made him feel at home, he said.

Andy nodded. "Yeah, didn't want to sit on the toilet for thirty minutes tonight. Just these, please."

He began to scan the items when suddenly he snapped his fingers. " _Scheisse!_ I almost forgot!" He started to dig around in his pocket, leaving Andy there to wonder what he was going to pull out.

 _Please have it be candy,_ thought the boy.

But, unfortunately, it wasn't candy. It was paper, which caused Andy mild distress for the fact he wished to receive candy. "This is for a support group that I have with some friends. It's called The Misfits, and we allow anybody over ten in. You can just tell  _die Mütter_ that it's a hang out group for kids, and plus, I'll be there, and I babysit you. They trust me. We'll take the bus."

Stephan gave him a bag. "That'll be $6.14." He handed over a five and two ones. "Here's a sucker and your change,  _großer Typ_." Andy smiled as he received the candy he had been waiting for. But what was on his mind was the group.

 

Over dinner, Andy brought up the group. "It's just fun place to hang out, like a boys and girls club. Y'know, like the one by Target? It's just that this is the one Stephan is goes to."

The moms smiled brightly, as if they had just found out their kid made honor society or something. "Oh, that's a great idea. You don't get out enough, sweetie, this would be good for you!" Said Barb.

"Well, it's happening tomorrow night, so could I go? This is the last one before school starts."

"Of course, baby! Do you think Stephan could go with you on the bus? Millie has tap tomorrow, so it would be great if he could."

"Yeah, sure, that's cool. He said he could. Thanks guys."

The window had a tiny dent. Tiny, but existent.

 

As they sat on the bus, a few blocks away from the school where the group would be taking place, Stephan turned to him. "You can use whatever name you want, Andy. That's the point. To make you feel at home, feel safe with these guys. They all know what it feels like. I think you'll like this one guy, his name's Connor. He really likes to draw, and he's also like you. Trans, I mean. Maybe he could teach you some things, no?"

"Yeah, I guess." Said Andy, playing Doodle Jump on his iPod. He was thinking about what they would think of him. Would they hate him? He didn't think so. Would they ask dumb questions? He hoped not. Make fun of the moms? Well, he'd punch them. That would shut them up.

"Andy, Andy, Andrew! _Komm schon_! Let's go!" He looked up. They were at the stop. He quickly grabbed his messenger bag and dashed off the bus. For some reason he felt trapped, like he had to get off. So that's what he did.

"This way, Andy." He began to walk toward a high school. Andy followed, naturally.

"This is the last time we get to use this before school starts, otherwise we go to this one boys and girls club. It's cool, but it's small. The room we get at the high school is much bigger."

"M'hm." Mumbled Andy, sliding down a banister. At the end of it he leaped off, slamming into a person.

"Agh! Shit!" Mumbled the victim, standing up. Andy's eyes got wide as a big guy with a tattoo sleeve up his right arm began to walk toward him, his hand bleeding slightly.

He curled in a ball, waiting for the guy to slam him into a nearby wall, but the blows never came. Cautiously, Andy opened one eye to see the dude reaching out his hand. Andy took it, getting brought up from the ground. "Sorry about that." Said the guy, dusting off Andy's shoulders.

"Naw, it's fine." Said the boy, still nervous, but less so. "My bad. Is your hand okay?" The guy had a blood spot on his palm.

"Yeah, I'm good. Used to it, skateboarder." He noticed the man had a board under his arm. "You?" 

Andy examined his palms. They were scraped up and one spot was bleeding slightly. "Nothing too bad."

Suddenly, Stephan was right behind him, going into a fit of apologizing. "Connor!  _Es tut mir so leid_!" Stephan was shaking the guy's hand, Connor's, apparently, frantically. "You must forgive my guest, Andy, here. He is a _straßenkünstler_ , street artist. He saw that railing as an opportunity to practice."

Connor smiled. "So this is the little guy you told me about?" Everything clicked.

"Y-you're Connor? But, the beard, and the voice! How?" Andy was mystified.

"Testosterone, brother. It's like magic for us trans men." Connor smiled. "Here, let me show you around. We have a PS4."

 

The night went great for Andy. They had soda, a PS4, as mentioned, The Last of Us Remastered, and it was epic. But he was tired, and went home a little early.

When he went to bed that night, he had a dream. He dreamt he was in a room, with no way out. Except a window. But the window wouldn't break. Then Connor and Stephan and Harry were in there. They punched and slammed at the window with Andy, and it started to crack more, and more, and more, until Barb woke him up, right before it broke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are what I live for. Comment. That's a command. But if you don't want to comment, that's fine, I'm cool with that. I'm not going to kill you or anything.  
> (sigh) COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED BUT NOT LIFE OR DEATH


	6. A Secret In The Cleaning Aisle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy goes school shopping with Grandpa, and he tells him a secret.

It was only two days before school started, and that required school shopping. Andy liked school shopping. He got to pick out a new patch for his beat up backpack, a new pencil case, some mechanical pencils, and some new shoes and clothes. Most years, his Barb or Kat would take him, but this time, Barb had a case she was busy with, and Kat had an emergency shift at the hospital. They had asked for her, and she took it on, forgetting the task at hand. Of course, she couldn't back out now, so Andy needed someone to take him.

Luckily, Grampa was in town, and he decided to take Andy. Gramma was there too, but she had to stay home to take care of Millie, who had already done her shopping. She didn't require much anyway, going into Kindergarten.

So that was why they were currently in Target, picking out new shoes. Andy wanted to tell Grampa really bad, but he didn't know what he would say. "Here, how 'bout these?" He held up a pair of red high-tops.

Andy couldn't take it anymore. "Come over here," He hissed, dragging him over to the aisle where they sold Windex and Bleach.

"Grampa. I have to tell you a secret. This is a HUGE secret. You can't tell anybody on your life. It's very important that you know that."

"Sure, kid." Grampa nodded. His hand went to the collar of his polo shirt. Andy slapped it away.

"This is serious. This is almost life or death."

Grampa's eyes went wide. Andy was pretty sure he knew now. "I'm a boy, Grampa."

His glance softened. "Honey, I always knew that. How could you think I didn't know? I saw the signs everywhere."

Andy was surprised. "But, didn't you just think I was a tomboy?"

Grampa shook his head. "No, it was always more than that. The way when you were little, how you would beg me to go to the bathroom with you in public, just so you could use the men's. When we went to the pool, how you would rip off your shirt. It was obvious. Tomboys are aware that they are females, and they are fine with it. Kids know they are a boy or a girl at a young age. It's a natural part of development. You would poke at yourself in the mirror, super confused. 'Why am I different?' you'd always say. 'Why did I get made wrong?'"

Andy almost jumped up in the air. "Okay, I'm just glad you know. My name's Andy, by the way."

Grampa shook his hand. "Good to meet you, Andy, I'm Grampa."

He laughed. "Well, I already knew that."

As they were walking out of the store a half hour later, shopping bags under their arms, Grampa asked an important question. It was very important.

"Does Andy happen to like candy? Because I happen to know a place..."

"Andy loves candy, Grampa."

 

So they went to the candy store, and he got to fill a bag of sweets up to a half gallon. The moms never let him do that. Grampa just got an ice cream cone. He didn't really like candy that much, but he did like ice cream.

Andy was also thirsty, and drank a whole bottle of water. Obviously, that made him need to go to the bathroom, right before they left. "Alright, take your time, kid, we have all the time in the world.

He walked back to the bathrooms, and almost walked into the women's, but then he remembered that he could go in the men's now. A huge grin grew across his face. He turned around and proudly strolled into the men's room.

After relieving himself, Andy walked out of the restroom, straight into a girl. "Oh, jeez, I'm so sorry-" He said, looking up at her face. He almost fell over backwards. He had seen the worst person to catch him.

Frannie, holding a cell phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is in memory of my own grandfather, who passed away in 2015. Rest in peace, Grampa.


	7. Breaking Through a Window

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus helps Andy break the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: PLEASE READ THIS  
> THERE IS A MINOR TRIGGER IN HERE OF SUICIDE  
> IT IS A VERY SMALL MENTION BUT I DON'T WANT TO TRIGGER ANYONE  
> IF YOU KNOW THIS WILL TRIGGER YOU, PLEASE DON'T READ

Marcus had sent for his niece, Anna, to visit him in the hospital that day. She was late, of course, but she wasn't even eleven years old yet, so he didn't mind.

Marcus had stage four prostate cancer, and he knew his time was running out. The only person he trusted with his final words was Anna. Anna, well, Anna was what made him fight. Anna watched football with him, went to art shows with him, and had the same haircut as him.

The haircut thing really didn't make that much sense anymore, though.

He knew that Anna was taking the bus down, and she was late or something, he hoped. The heart monitor was starting to beep just a little faster.

 

Andy hadn't slept a lot last night. He was too nervous about Frannie. School was starting tomorrow, and he knew she was going to spread his secret. She would do anything to ruin his life.

As he was on the bus, he considered the possibilities.

 

1\. Move to Antarctica and live with the penguins.

2\. Bunk with Harry until this whole thing blows over.

3\. Go jump off the Empire State Building.

4\. Steal an identity and get arrested on purp-

 

Wait! Maybe he could tell Marcus, and he could help him! Marcus was awesome, he could help with the paperwork and everything! He could help him come out!

The bus pulled to a stop. Andy ran off, dashing into the hospital. After he got through all of the security, he was speed-walking down the hall to Marcus's room. That's when he heard the beeping.

He knew it was his heart monitor, but it was beeping too fast. He started to run. As he rounded the corner, he saw the doctors and nurses gathered around Marcus. He was pale, his face was chalk white. He could see beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. His eyes were squeezed shut in agony. Andy raced to his bedside.

"Marcus! Marcus!" He turned to the doctor. "Miss, is he dying?"

The doctor shushed him. "Shhh, honey, he's in pain."

"I don't care! Is he dying or no?" Andy began to cry. "Is he dying? Is he? TELL ME!"

The doctor gently put her hand on his shoulder. "Sweetheart, he's in pain."

"Will he be okay?" He said quietly, his gusto disappearing in seconds. He didn't need an answer. He knew that Marcus didn't have a lot of time left. Marcus had told him himself.

The doctor didn't know what to say. She stared at the ground, tears about to protrude from her own eyes.

"Anna..."

Heads snapped to attention, staring at the patient. He had just said something. He had called for Andy. This only made him cry harder.

"That's not my name, Marc, it's not." Andy stood up. His feet were moving, his Converse walking over to Marcus. He could see the window now. It was just one tap away from breaking. He just needed to touch it and the glass would shatter under the meager force of his finger.

As he reached Marcus's bed, he sat in the chair next to it. His uncle lifted his hand with the small amount of strength he had. He wanted Andy to take it. Andy did just that. The tears were pouring down his face now, and he couldn't hold them back. Not at all.

"My name is Andrew Marcus Lewis. I'm transgender. I'm not your niece, I'm your nephew."

Marcus didn't seem to hear Andy. He didn't move a muscle. He just blinked. Then he looked over at Andy, placed an object in his palm, and uttered his last words.

"Andy, do not throw away your shot."

His eyes drooped shut, and the heart monitor beeped fast and faster and faster and faster-

until it was just one long, never ending melody.

Flatline.

 

Andy screamed, crying and crying and crying. He was there. Marcus was dead. He had died right in front of him.

Everything went in slow motion. Him running out of the hospital, dashing down the street, running the mile home. He wouldn't stop running. The window was everywhere. The bodegas, houses, offices, apartment buildings, stores, houses. Everywhere. Andy felt as if Marcus had handed him a weapon, but it wasn't a weapon. The object was a silver wristwatch. It was a dumb old thing, some crappy Micky-Mouse one that he got at Disney World. But it felt so special. So amazingly, spectacularly special. Andy slipped on the watch, not stopping his running.

Finally, he got to his apartment building. He ran up the stairs, all six flights. He couldn't wait for the elevator.

He ran down the hall, fiddled for his key, and opened the door.

Kat and Barb were sitting on the couch, watching Grey's Anatomy, laptops out and idle. Millie was reading a book, obviously not interested.

None of this mattered to Andy. He looked at the watch, looked at the roof, looked at the floor, and looked at his reflection in the picture window across from him.

He saw a boy. A real boy. A boy with brown hair, clipped close to his head. A boy with bright blue eyes, fixed intently on his reflection. A boy with just a tiny dotting of freckles across his cheeks. A boy who was a boy.

Andy knew what he had to do. He stuck out his chest, took a deep breath, and said the words he had been meaning to say for so long.

"Moms, I'm a boy."

The glass shattered.

**Author's Note:**

> I made this while browsing original works. It was triggered by my own story, I felt inclined to write it.


End file.
